Mortgage lending slowed slightly in October. According to data published this Wednesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), in the tenth month of 2025 52,198 loans were signed for the purchase of a housing, the highest volume for the month of October in 16 years but only 0.6% more than last year at the same time. This slight increase was enough to keep the market in positive territory, despite a slowdown in the growth rate compared to previous months. The average interest rate also continued its de-escalation and recorded its lowest level since the start of 2023.
This is the sixteenth consecutive month in which it increases in annual terms, the total volume of mortgage loans granted. The signing of loans for the purchase of a home saw a month-on-month increase in the middle of last year, when the European Central Bank (ECB) began to reduce interest rates and the real estate market was reactivated thanks to better access to financing. In July of this year, the institution headed by Christine Lagarde made the final cut. However, the ECB’s change of course did not prevent the granting of mortgage loans from continuing to increase, although at a slower pace than in the first half of the year.
So far in 2025, all annual increases in mortgage signings have exceeded 10% – in May, 54.4% more loans of this type were even granted compared to the same month of 2024 – with the exception of increases of 7.5% in August and 4.3% in February. Now the 0.6% rebound recorded in October is also added below these marks, the least pronounced of the increases over the last year and a half, although this occurs on the reference of a tenth month of 2024 in which this type of operations climbed by 61.9% compared to the previous year.
In fact, the 52,198 subscriptions for the tenth month of 2025 represented the highest volume of signatures for the month of October since 2009when 52,250 loans were reached. This is therefore a level of activity not seen in 16 years. During the first ten months of 2025, 419,913 mortgage loans were granted, or 18.4% more than during the same period of 2024, at a rate of approximately 40,000 monthly operations. This is the first time since 2010 that 400,000 signatures have been exceeded during this period and October is so far the month of 2025 with the most loans granted, exceeding the 46,120 in September by 13.2%.
During the same period, 601,543 homes were sold in Spain, 12.3% more than last year, with an average of around 60,000 monthly transactions. In October, 67,789 sales and purchases were recorded, 2.5% less than in 2024 but the second best data for this month in the INE historical series, which dates back to 2007.
According to data released this Wednesday, mortgage loans granted in October had an average interest rate of 2.81%, the lowest since January 2023. The average rate has thus chained four consecutive monthly declines after a first half of stagnation around 3%.
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